Consent and privacy in telemedicine.

Abstract

The electronic broadcast of a medical interview, or a video tele-consultation (VTC), challenges many of our traditional concepts of privacy and confidentiality. The nature of a doctor-patient relationship changes dramatically when the open airwaves carry the personal histories, images, and concerns of a patient. Discussions of telemedicine often allude to inherent ethical concerns yet there are no established guidelines for the ethical conduct of a VTC.